Farewell Mark Robins

What a tumultuous two weeks we've had in the history of Coventry City with the departure of the long-serving and incredibly successful manager Mark Robins. Mark had previously managed the club in 2012-13 but returned in March 2017 to replace the inept Russell Slade with the Sky Blues rock bottom of League One, on their way to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in almost sixty years. He somehow managed to motivate his limited squad of players to a EFL (Checkatrade) final victory over Oxford United at Wembley and then started the Herculean task of lifting the team back to higher things. With a virtual rebuild of the squad including the inspired signings of Michael Doyle and Marc McNulty Mark scrapped into the League Two play-offs before overturning the formbook with famous victories over Notts County and Exeter City.

The team continued to evolve in League One and after a season of consolidation the addition of players like Kyle McFadzean and Matty Godden helped clinch a League One championship in the second, covid-affected 2019-20 season. Robins and the team found the Championship challenging in 2020-21 just keeping their head above water before a final flurry ensured safety. The triumphant return to the CBS Arena in 2021 saw City competing near the top of the division and the fans witnessed some incredible performances with thrilling victories over champions Fulham (twice), Sheffield United and Bristol City. The final position of 12^th was then improved on in 2022-23 despite the CBS pitch problems causing the team to play six of their first seven games away from home. A run of 18 games with only one defeat with Gyokeres and Hamer to the fore catapulted the Sky Blues to the play-off final at Wembley where sadly the Premier League dream was extinguished in a cruel penalty shoot-out. 

Less than a year later with a much-changed but arguably stronger team a combination of penalty shoot-out misery and VAR wrecked City's fantasy of an FA Cup final appearance in a classic tie with Manchester United and the mental and physical efforts of reaching the semi final probably cost the club a play-off place.

Now seven months later after another slow start Mark Robins has paid the price. Many fans felt he had sufficient credit in the bank from his achievements for the club to warrant more time to correct things but in the cruel world of football management the owner had lost patience. Like John Sillett in 1990 – sacrificed for a 'name' manager, Terry Butcher – Mark Robins' accomplishments appear to have been forgotten in the urge for 'change'.

Mark's record in his second spell as manager of Coventry City was:

Games 335 Won 132 Drawn 92 Lost 111 a win ratio of 39.4%

In addition his record in Cup and other games was:

Games 52 Won 22 Drawn 14 Lost 16

Mark's first spell as City manager in 2012-13 comprised of:

Games 33 Won 17 Drawn 6 Lost 10

A grand total of:

Games 420 Won 171 Drawn 112 Lost 137 a win ratio of 40.7%

Only two managers in the club's history have managed the club in more games, Harry Storer, who was in charge for 691 games in two spells (1931-45 and 1948-53) and Gordon Milne who sat in the chair for 440 games (1972-81). Only two managers who have managed the club for at least a full season can better Robins' overall win ratio of 40.7%, Storer and Jimmy Hill (both on 44.4%) with John Sillett close behind Robins on 40.6%.

There you have it – Mark Robins is statistically up there with the magnicent three of Storer, Hill and Sillett. 

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue. Just search for 'Sky Blue History Podcast'

If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City or have a suggested topic for the podcast please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on X/Twitter @clarriebourton

City's most familiar opponents

I had a fascinating email this week from City fan Steve Coyne who has compiled the Sky Blues head to head record in Football League games. He has continued from the table published in the book 'Coventry City the Complete Record' published in 1991, which covered all Coventry City matches to the end of season 1990-91.

Up to 1991, Steve writes, we had faced QPR and Southampton 80 times each, followed by Norwich on 74, and Crystal Palace with 70 matches. It should be pointed out that until the 1958-59 season football was regionalised. Although the City, being a Midland club, had played in both Divisions Three North and South, they played all but one season in the Southern section which accounts for the leaders all being Southern teams. For the same reason until 1967 we played very few of the top Division One clubs from the North and Midlands.

City then went on an unbroken run of 34 seasons in the top flight including being founder members of the Premier League in 1992, meaning 68 matches against clubs like Everton and Arsenal with unbroken membership of the top flight. Since the publication of the record book City have played a further 32 seasons. There have been one or two books, mainly by Jim, recording sections of more recent results but no complete run of the completed seasons to the end of last season, 2023-24. Hence I dug out my own records of CCFC matches since, and by adding my figures to the 1991 records have ended up with what I hope is an up-to –date figure. These are Premier, Football League/EFL matches only and exclude all Cup-ties, friendlies, or our one season in the European Fairs Cup. There were also our two forays into the Play-Offs totalling 4 games, plus two Wembley Play-Off final opponents (2017-18 and 2022-23), but none of the four teams we played feature near the top of our table. 

So now the big reveal. On the 22^nd October 2024 our most recent visit to Loftus Road turns out to be of particular significance being the 113^th time the two teams have faced each other in League matches – a new record. Here are the top ten League opponents to the end of last season. Leeds and Watford will move up to join Leicester on 84 matches by the end of this season in May 2025

1= Queen’s Park Rangers 112

1= Southampton 112

3 Norwich City 104

4 Crystal Palace 98

5 Nottingham Forest 90 

6 West Ham United 88

7 Leicester City 84

8= Leeds United 82

8= Ipswich Town 82

8= Tottenham Hotspur 82

8= Watford 82

Figures include the Covid interrupted season 2019-20 where we played only 34 matches including ten clubs (further down the list) who we played just once.

Thanks Steve.

To add to Steve's excellent research I have identified the 15 clubs who City have only met twice (home and away) in their Football League history i.e. were in the same division for one season.

Six were encountered in the League Two season in 2017-18 (Barnet, Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Forest Green Rovers, Morecambe, Newport County (new)). Four were opponents in that one season in Division Three North in 1925-26 (Ashington, Durham City, New Brighton and Wigan Borough). Three were met in Division Four in 1958-59 (Chester City, Darlington and Workington Town). Aberdare Athletic were in Division Three South in 1926-27 whilst Leeds City are a defunct club that City met in 1919. The new Newport County are nothing to do with the club who City met 38 times between 1919-62. 

Ben & Oggy - Kings of the Clean Sheets

Coventry City's deserved 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night ended a poor run of five league games without a win and appears to have quietened the vocal minority urging for the sacking of manager Mark Robins. Bearing in mind the status of previously unbeaten Blackburn, few fans would have predicted a 3-0 home win. The result confirms my theory that bad runs often end with a surprise win and good runs often end with an unexpected defeat. In 2022-23 City were in a brilliant run of nine games without defeat but were brought down to earth with a 4-0 home loss to Stoke City. The previous season City had only one win in eight before going to Craven Cottage and beating the league leaders 3-1. One should never take results for granted in this crazy Championship!

All City fans know of our bogey teams (Preston and Swansea being the main ones) but the Sky Blues are becoming Blackburn's bogey team. Since Rovers won 4-0 at St Andrews in 2020 they have failed to win any of the eight games between the clubs. They have also failed to win a league game at the CBS Arena in five visits.

The Blackburn victory delivered City's first league clean sheet of the season and a personal triumph for Ben Wilson (although he had little to do on the night). Ben has now kept 45 clean sheets in 115 games since arriving at the club in 2019 and has the best clean sheet record of any Coventry City goalkeeper.

Ben is up to sixth place in the club's all-time list of clean sheets and has now remained goalless in 39% of his competitive games for the club. His closest rivals in the percentage table in 1930s 'keeper Bill Morgan with 34% achieved in the Harry Storer era when the team had defensively minded approach. The majority of City 'keepers in the list had a clean sheet percentage in the range of 21-26% with even Sky Blue legend Steve Ogrizovic only reaching 29% (albeit in the top flight).

Most clean sheets (all games)

	Games	Clean sheets	% clean sheets
1. Steve Ogrizovic	601	175	29%
2. Bill Glazier	402	95	24%
3. Alf Wood	246	64	26%
4. Bill Morgan	160	54	34%
5. Jerry Best	236	52	22%
6. Ben Wilson	115	45	39%
7. Les Sealey	180	43	24%
8. Horace Pearson	124	40	32%
9. Arthur Lightening	165	39	24%
10. Lee Burge	160	34	21%
11. Magnus Hedman	151	33	22%
11. Keiren Westwood	138	33	24%

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue. Just search for 'Sky Blue History Podcast'

Dennis Churms RIP

I was sad to hear that Dennis Churms, the oldest former Coventry City player, had passed away last weekend. Dennis, who was 93-years-old, had lived in the Folkestone area for many years despite hailing from Rotherham in Yorkshire. As chairman of CCFPA I tried very hard on a number of occasions to persuade him to attend a Legends Day but he was never quite fit enough to make the trip from the south coast. 

Dennis played his early football with Cheshire side Spurley Hey FC before signing for his hometown club in 1950. Having to play in reserve team football for three seasons he finally got a first team opportunity in Rotherham's home Division 2 game with Nottingham Forest (3-0) playing at inside-forward (midfield). He retained his place the following week in a 1-1 away draw with Luton. Rotherham were a leading side in the old Second Division in the mid 1950s and the following season achieved the club's highest ever position in the Football League. They finished third and missed out on promotion on goal difference to Birmingham on the final day of the season with Dennis appearing in ten games. After just two games the following season he joined Coventry in the summer of 1956. 

He joined a club in turmoil having lost manager Jesse Carver halfway through the previous campaign and staggered through to the end of the season with Carver's number two, George Raynor in charge. Rather than having faith in the coaching ability of Raynor – who would take Sweden to the World cup final in 1958 – the board appointed Harry Warren. Warren had been manager of Southend since the war without ever threatening to get the Shrimpers out of Division Three South. The appointment was disastrous and the club went backwards under Warren – finishing 16^th. Churms atarted the season as first choice inside forward and scored the only goal on his debut against Exeter City. He managed one more goal, in a 5-1 home win over QPR but lost his place after ten starts.

By March 1957 he was playing for Exeter City for whom he 45 appearances, scoring eight goals. In 1958 Exeter finished rock bottom of Division Three South and had to apply for re-election with Dennis released. He joined Southern League Folkestone Town in 1959 and went on to become one of the most revered players in the club's history and he continued to live in the town after his playing retirement in 1967.

This was a period when non league Folkestone attracted players from the Football League in part with the offer of a day job and even in some cases accommodation with it. In 1959-60, Folkestone rejoined the Southern League as Folkestone Town FC and gained promotion to the Premier Division and it started a golden era for the club with some exciting FA Cup runs. In 1965 Dennis was part of the team that reached the third round by beating Third Division Gillingham and Wimbledon before losing to Crewe. Coincidentally, if Folkestone had beaten Crewe they would have faced the Sky Blues in round four.

Dennis spent 34 years working for British Railways as an electrician before taking early retirement in 1993. He remained active regularly playing squash and golf and taking a keen interest in football and horse racing. Richard Murrill the secretary of Folkestone Invicta FC told me that Dennis was an unassuming man who, like many of his generation, maintained his great dignity right until the end.

His funeral will take place on 11^th October at Hawkinge Crematorium, near Folkestone (11.30).

Last week week I wrote about former City players who currently manage home international teams. There are numerous other international bosses with Coventry City connections. In addition to Lee Carsley, former players Sam Allardyce and Stuart Pearce have managed England for one game only and Joe Mercer managed the national team in the summer of 1974 whilst the general manager of the Sky Blues. Joe was asked to take the reins following the sacking of Sir Alf Ramsey and the arrival of Don Revie and lost only one of his seven games at the helm. Pearce was caretaker manager for one game (a 2-3 home loss to Netherlands in 2012). Allardyce took the job in 2016 but only lasted one game, a 1-0 away victory over Slovakia, before being relieved of his duties over a press-led sting.

Gordon Strachan is the only former Coventry player to manage Scotland and was in charge of the national team for 40 games between 2013-17, suceeding Craig Levein and being followed by Malky Mackay.

Craig Bellamy is the fifth former Coventry player to manage Wales. Terry Yorath was in charge for 41 games (1988-93), Bobby Gould for 24 games (1995-99), Chris Coleman for 49 games (2012-17) and Robert Page for 45 games (2020-24) being the others.

Prior to Michael O'Neill the only former Coventry player to manage Northern Ireland was Dave Clements who was appointed player-manager in 1975, succeeding Terry Neil. He was also playing for Everton at the time and managed the national team for 11 games before handing the reins to Danny Blanchflower in 1976 after accepting an offer to play for New York Cosmos.

Former CCFC players managing international teams

How many clubs have had three former players as managers of home international sides at the same time? Three Coventry City former players are currently managing national teams. Lee Carsley is interim boss of England, Craig Bellamy is in charge of Wales and Michael O'Neill is back in charge of Northern Ireland for a second spell.

The three had mixed fortunes as players for the Sky Blues. Birmingham-born Carsley had a stellar career with Derby County and Blackburn Rovers before Gordon Strachan signed him in December 2000 with City struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League. A holding midfielder, Lee played 21 games in that relegation season and another 26 the following season before moving back to the Premiership with Everton. He was a virtual ever present with Everton over the next six years before two seasons at Birmingham City. In 2010 Coventry boss Adie Boothroyd re-signed Lee, now aged 36, and made him captain but a career-ending injury kept his appearances down to 25. He was appointed coach of the under 18 team and after leading them to runners up spot in the Premier Academy League he was promoted to coach of the Development Squad as the first team were relegated to League One. Weeks into the 2012-13 season he and Richard Shaw were appointed caretaker managers after the departure of Andy Thorn. The pair held the fort until Mark Robins was appointed and the following February Lee was sole caretaker manager for five games after Robins left and before Steven Pressley arrived. Carsley moved on soon afterwards and built an impressive career as a coach with Brentford, Sheffield United, Birmingham and the England under 20 and under 21 teams. This culminated in him leading the under 21 national side to the European Championship title last year and earned him the promotion to his current role this summer following Gareth Southgate's departure.

Craig Bellamy was in the same 2000-01 relegation team as Carsley but Sky Blues' fans' memories of the Welsh striker are far less memorable. Signed for £6 million, to replace Robbie Keane, Bellamy scored only eight goals (three of them penalties) in 39 games for the Sky Blues. In his partial defence he was recovering from a cruciate ligament injury and later revealed he never really want to sign for Coventry. Fortunately City were able to sell the volatile striker to Newcastle for £6.5 million. The move suited both parties!

                                                                Craig Bellamy as CCFC player
 

It's hard for most Sky Blue fans to remember Michael O'Neill. Gordon Strachan signed him fron Hibernian in 1996 and he teamed up again with his former Hibs manager Alex Miller, Strachan's number two. A left-winger, O'Neill had had two good seasons at Newcastle in the late 1980s (he scored two goals for the Magpies against City in a 2-2 draw in 1987). Unfortunately he was injured on his Coventry debut and was out for over a year. In March 1998 he went on loan to Aberdeen and Reading after just six appearances for the Sky Blues and that summer moved permanently to Wigan Athletic. A full international with 31 caps, O'Neill ended his playing career with Ayr United in 2004 and after very successful spells managing Brechin City and Shamrock Rovers he was appointed manager of Northern Ireland in 2011 leading his country, against the odds, to the 2016 Euros. He left his position in 2020 a few months after taking the Stoke manager's job but failed to push the Potters above mid-table in three seasons and was sacked in 2022. His previous success at international level convinced Northern Ireland to reappoint him in December 2022 and despite modest resources is doing a fine job.

 

Michael O'Neill as a CCFC player

Next week I will cover some of the previous Home International managers with Coventry City connections. 

League Cup 3rd round for first time in 12 years

The Sky Blues progressed to the third round of the League Cup with a 1-0 victory over Oxford United at the CBS Arena on Tuesday evening – the first time they have reached this stage of the competition since 2012. The competition has been a disaster for City in those twelve years with some of the most embarrassing defeats in the club's history and it was hard to believe that the club were interested in the competition in the intervening years.

Back in 2012 City were newly relegated from the Championship and won their first round tie at Dagenham & Redbridge, 1-0, thanks to a Kevin Kilbane goal. Before the next round manager Andy Thorn had departed after a poor start to the league campaign and Richard Shaw and Lee Carsley were the caretaker managers. A thrilling 3-2 extra-time win over higher status Birmingham City earned a first trip to the Emirates Stadium to face the might of Arsenal. Days before the tie Mark Robins was appointed manager and his first game in charge had seen City lose their fifth successive league game and slide to 23^rd in League One.

Robins brought in two debutant loanees for their trip to Arsenal, Derby's James Bailey and Wolves' Jamie Reckord. The line up was: Joe Murphy: Jordan Clarke, Reckord, Carl Baker, Reece Brown, Richard Wood, Adam Barton, Franck Moussa, Callum Ball, Stephen Elliott, Gary McSheffrey, James Bailey. Arsenal fielded a reserve team which included current Aston Villa 'keeper Emi Martinez, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, French international Olivier Giroud and current Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry. In a mismatched game the Sky Blues managed to keep it to 1-0 at the break and only trailed 3-0 with eighteen minutes remaining. City sub Callum Ball scored a stunning goal in front of the 8,000 Coventry fans but the home side rubbed home their superiority with three more goals to make the final score 6-1 and Joe Murphy saved a Giroud penalty.

Coventry now face their old foe from 1987, Tottenham Hotspur in round three with home advantage. A large crowd can be expected for this tasty-looking tie – Spurs' first trip to the CBS Arena. We may well see the return to Coventry of James Maddison and lets hope he gets a warm welcome from the Sky Blue faithful. There have been some epic games between the two clubs in the past including an epic League Cup tie in 1995 when City trailed 2-0 at half-time but roared back to win 3-2 with second half goals from Peter Ndlovu (penalty), Dave Busst and John Salako. Bussty managed the feat of scoring at both ends.

Someone pointed out this week that City had played Oxford United in all three major competitions in the last eight months and asked if that was a first. The only similar occurrence was in 2013-14 when the Sky Blues played Leyton Orient in the League Cup in August and the EFL Trophy and the league during October. Orient, managed by Russell Slade, won the League cup tie 3-2 and the EFL trophy game on penalties after a 0-0 draw but City turned the tables by beating the Londoners, who were the league leaders, 3-1 at Sixfields with goals from Baker, Moussa and Leon Clarke. I believe Moussa's goal won goal of the season.

In the early 1960s City fans got fed up with playing Portsmouth. Between January 1962 and March 1963 the clubs met six times, two Division Three games, a League Cup tie and an FA Cup tie that went to three games. Honours were even in the league, Pompey won the League Cup game 5-1 but City prevailed at the third attempt in the FA Cup, winning 2-1 at White Hart Lane in the second replay.

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue. Just search for 'Sky Blue History Podcast'

A CBS record crowd for the Oxford game

Coventry City started their home campaign last week with an excellent 3-2 victory over newly promoted Oxford United. Des Buckingham's side had lost only one game in their last thirteen and had comprehensively beaten Norwich City in their opening game. The Sky Blues left it late for Haji Wright to score his 96^th minute goal – his second of the night – but it was a well deserved victory.

The attendance was an excellent 28,051 and despite being only the 13^th highest ever crowd at the stadium it is the highest crowd for an evening league game at the CBS Arena since the club moved from Highfield Road in 2005. The previous highest was for the 'return to Coventry' game against Gillingham in 2014 however substantially reduced prices were in force for that game. 

The top attendances for Coventry games at the CBS are as follows:

1. 31,407 Chelsea (FA Cup) 2008-09

2. 31,054 Crewe (EFL Trophy) 2013-14

3. 30,232 Leeds (League) 2023-24

4. 30,175 Birmingham (League) 2022-23

5. 29,914 Leicester (League) 2023-24

6. 29,208 Sheffield W (League) 2023-24

7. 29,102 QPR (League) 2023-24

8. 28,874 Middlesbrough (Play-off) 2022-23

9. 28,529 Cardiff City (League) 2023-24

10. 28,343 Accrington (League) 2017-18

11. 28,184 Leeds (League) 2007-08

12. 28,120 Middlesbrough (FA Cup) 2005-06

13. 28,051 Oxford (League) 2024-25

It is interesting to note that seven of the top nine attendances have been in the last two seasons reflecting the buzz around the city since the club returned to Coventry in 2021 generated by the exciting brand of football played by Mark Robins' team. Who would have thought that the team would be being watched by the biggest crowds since the early 1970s.

Friday's attendance was also the highest Coventry crowd for the opening league game of a season since 1978 when 28,585 were at Highfield Road to watch City lock horns with the league champions Nottingham Forest. I remember it being a warm August evening and that legendary Coventry athlete Dave Moorcroft was on the pitch displaying his gold medal from the Commonwealth Games 1500 metres held earlier that summer. An 18-year-old Gary Gillespie made his home debut and the game ended 0-0, the same scores as when the two teams had met in the final home game of the previous season, the day Forest had clinched the title. 

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue. Just search for 'Sky Blue History Podcast'